Many medical situations arise in which a patient requires insertion of an endotracheal tube, or other artificial airway, into the patient's respiratory system. In some cases, the endotracheal tube must remain in the patient for an extended duration, such as when a patient is hooked up to a ventilation machine, or “ventilator,” that provides oxygen to the patient. In these cases, it is necessary to periodically remove respiratory fluids, such as mucus and other secretions, from the patient's respiratory system.
Suction catheters, which are inserted into the artificial airway, have long been used to remove these respiratory secretions. When withdrawn, a negative pressure applied to the interior of the suction catheter draws secretions out of the patient's respiratory system. Traditional suction catheters required the patient to be temporarily disconnected from the ventilator during the suctioning process, which would cut off the patient's air flow and often lead to patient panic or distress.
Closed suction catheters were developed to overcome this problem. A closed suction catheter is typically maintained within a protective cover or sheath to protect medical technicians and others from exposure to infectious agents that might end up on the outside of the catheter tube. One advantage of using a closed suction catheter is that the patient does not need to be disconnected from the ventilator during the suctioning process. Indeed, the catheter tube is guided through a manifold, to which the ventilator and the catheter are attached, into the artificial airway while the ventilator continues to provide oxygen to the patient.
Closed suction catheters are typically used multiple times for suctioning in a given day. Accordingly, it is important to remove secretions from the catheter tube between uses in order to reduce the risk of contamination. While existing closed suction catheters typically include components for cleaning the catheter tube, they are often inefficient and do not always achieve desired cleanliness standards. Existing closed suction catheter systems often have other shortcomings, as well, such as leaky or unstable valves and components that restrict patient movement. Thus, a need exists for an improved closed suction catheter system.